Improved school seat and desk



-tUNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DAVID I. STAGG, OF NEV YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVED SCHOOL SEAT AND DESK.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 40,2%), dated October13, 1803.

To all whom it may concern,.-

Beit known that I, D. I. STAGG, of the city, county, and State of NewYork, have invonted a new and useful Improvement in Seats and Desks forthe Use of Schools and for other Purposes; and I do hereby declare thatthe following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of thisspecification, in which- Figure 1 is a side sectional view of myinvention, taken in the line x x, Fig. 3 5 Fig. 2, front of the same;Fig. 3, a plan or top view of the same.

Similar letters ot reference indicate corresponding parts in the severalfigures.

The average width ot' a school-desk is about fourteen (14) inches; in nocase need t'ley exceed sixteen (16) inches, while ten or twelve (10 or12) inches is the average width of a school-seat. Hence it will be seenthat,

it' no provision were made to vary the width of the seat, the latterwould, if made ot" the proper width for a seat, be too narrow for adesk, and if made sutiiciently wide for a. desk be too wide for a seat,so much so as to prevent the occupant from obtaining any advantige ofthe back of the settee. My invention is designed to obviate thisdifficulty, and at the same time admit of a ready adjustment of the seatand desk with ample space between the rows of settees for passage-ways,ventilation, &c.

To enable those skilled in the art to fully understand and construct myinvention, I will proceed to describe it.

A represents upright supports, which form the sides of the settees and Bare boards secured between the upper parts of the supports, and formingthe backs of the settees, said backs being slightly inclined from avertical position, as shown in Fig. 1, and perforated, if desired, toadmit of proper ventilation. The ends of the backs B are not incontactwith the uprightsupports. Aspace, a, is allowed at each end, asshowh in Figs. 2 and 3, to receive arms C. These arms C may be of metal,cast or wrought, and they are of curved form, as shown in Fig. 1, andare secured to the inner sides ofthe supports A by screws or pivots b.

The backs B are secured between the supports A by screws or pins b',which pass through the supports and into bearings or projections c atthe ends of the backs, said bearings admitting of the spaces a being a1-lowed between the ends of the backs and the supports, and also servingas stops for the arms C, as will be presently described.

The outer ends of the arms C terminate in plates d, which project atabout right angles from C, and between which boards D are secured, whichform the seats and desks. These boards are of sutlicient width to serveas desks-say from fourteen to sixteen (14 to 16) inches.

These arms C have a curve similar to that of the letter S, and the backor inner ends of the arms have recesses e made in them, as shown clearlyin Fig. l, and these recesses admit of the back parts of the boards Dprojecting underneath the backs B when the arms@ are turned down and theboards D are used as seats. By this arrangement it will be seen that theboard D is virtually reduced in width, so asto make a proper seat or oneof such width, that the back B may be used as a support or rest for theback of the occupant of the seat-a result which could not be obtained ifthe whole ot' the board D projected in front of the back and theoccupant of the seat had his feet upon the floor.

Vhen the board D is used as aseat, the lower projections, 0, serve asstops to retain it in proper position. In order to convert the board orseat into a'desk, it is turned upward and over the top ofthe back B, theconcave parts fot the arms C bearing against the upper stops, c, asshown in Fig. 1. In this position the whole width ot' the board C isrendered available as a desk.

The settees are placed in rows at a suitable distance apart, one rowhaving boards G adjusted as seats, and the row immediately in fronthaving its boards adjusted as desks.

By this arrangement all of the settees may be used with seats when desksare not required.

By having the seats and desks supported in position as described I avoidall extensions on the supports A, and consequently an ample space isallowed for passage ways between the rows ofsettees. The arms C also maybe attached to both sides of the supports A, and consequently threesupports will answer for The arrmxgeliient of the seat-desk board D iwith the arms C, plates d, and back B, in the manner herein shown anddescribed, so that when the board D is turned down for a seat, its inneredge will pass under the back B, all as set forth, for the purposesspecified.

DAVID I. STAGG.

W'itnesses Trios. S. J. DOUGLAS, GEO. W. REED.

